July 3, 2020
EmailSecurityCyber criminals are constantly looking for new ways to attack people in ways that will be unexpected. By choosing new methods regularly they increase the chance that you will fall for their traps and lose money or data. Which is why it’s very important that we stay up to date on the latest trends in threats so we can protect ourselves personally but also professionally.
Not too long ago the newest threats were text message scam links, and emails claiming to have information on Covid-19. But as we begin noticing these scams and avoiding them new ones will pop up to replace them. Recently cybercriminals have found a way to bypass email gateways by sending calendar invites embedded with a bad link. This method has been targeting mostly Gmail users by spamming their calendar with what looks like harmless invites, before sending one with a malicious link hiding inside.
Once the calendar invite is added, the user will receive a notification from google about the event which can make it seem more legitimate. But if you click into these invites, they usually have strange descriptions telling you to fill out a survey or click here to claim a reward. The links will then take you to a page asking you to confirm your personal information by submitting a credit card. Then once you have the cyber criminals will have access to your personal information and begin exploiting it.
We have all been told about the dangers of opening strange emails and clicking links but being wary of a calendar invite is a new concept. The best way to keep yourself safe in this situation is to make sure that you go into your mail settings and make sure that you have “Automatically add invitations” set to “No” so that you have to grant permission to any invite. This way you will be able to see whether an event if from a friend or if it looks a bit phishy.
It’s important to remember that even when an email attachment, link, invite, text, looks like it could be from a reliable source it’s always better to be cautious. You never know when a seemingly harmless link or attachment could be masking something dangerous.
Being aware of the dangers is one of the best ways to keep yourself safe. Keeping informed on the best cyber security practices. Knowing what the trends in scams are so that you can avoid falling for them. Also making sure that your device and software are up to date while using antimalware to keep your device safe. These are the methods that will keep not only your personal information safe, but also the data for your business.